A Place Without Suffering
by Lee Savage
Summary: Post-In the Grip of Evil. After Skeleton King intrudes on the team's sleep, Chiro starts to have wonderful dreams. Hopeful and genre-blind, he insists that no sinister forces are at work, only to learn the importance of family. Suicide themes.
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

* * *

><p>Chiro wakes up, but his eyes remain closed. Everything around him feels hazy. How long has he been asleep? First, he feels grass tickling his fingers; then sunlight sneaks past his eyelids and makes his entire body warm. There's the smell of—fruit? Hopefully Sprx isn't attempting to cook again. His soups are all right, but—<p>

Someone pats his shoulder. "C'mon, big guy. You're burnin' daylight!" A deep laugh. Otto? No.

When the boy opens his eyes, he sees a blue sky with a few stray clouds. Chiro sits up, and two adults are staring at him with wide smiles on their faces. A man and a woman. A checkered picnic blanket rests underneath them all, and small yellow leaves dance as they depart from a tree. The woman's eyes are bright and blue.

"When you were little, I used to call you Chi-Chi. Your father would go nuts." She laughs, and the boy feels like the ground will give out from under him any second. He'll go careening back into reality, the place of abnormalities—where any pleasant day out ends in a confrontation that can make the world implode.

The man replies, "I did, but only because it sounds stupid."

"You mean cute."

"In a stupid way."

No—this is all wrong. Chiro doesn't have parents. They died. He was alone until he found the monkey team, and even then he was just a scavenger who'd fallen into the hefty world-saving business due to some divine fluke. A mistake.

But something crawls in the darkest recesses of his mind. Yes, these must be—just, their _voices_. Is it possible for him to know how they talked when he was just a squirming infant?

The woman—his mother?—looks at Chiro, and the boy thinks that she can read him unlike anyone else. "You've grown too tall for your school outfit."

The man shakes his head. Looking away and somewhere to the horizon, he says, "Women notice everything."

As if prompted, the lady says to the boy, "You look flushed. Is it too hot out for you?"

"See what I mean?"

The boy says, "No, I'm fine." There's something else niggling in Chiro's head, some sensation. He wants to stay, but he knows he'll never be able to live like this. Like this—what does that even mean?

Beaming, his father ruffles his hair. "Glad to have you back, son."

* * *

><p>Chiro opens his eyes to darkness. Immediately, he closes his eyes again and grumbles. Surely he can sleep for at least an extra hour or two. Not for long—just enough to dream.<p>

His room is mundane given his unique living conditions. Action figures. Crooked picture frames. A spare Sun Riders poster he should probably take down anyway.

Groaning, Chiro gets out of bed, tossing away his bed sheets so violently that they land partly on the cold floor. He stuffs the rest of his wadded clothes back in the dresser, shutting the drawers and making sure there aren't any clothes jammed into the cracks. Once when Gibson came in here and inspected the state of an influenza-riddled Chiro, he had fussed over clothes sloppily sticking out of the drawers.

The boy remembers when he became the Chosen One. The control room looked immense, like it could engulf his entire school. Even though memories fade over time, he remembers the vivid brightness of the room and how it stung. He wasn't ready for the whole saving-the-world gig. He could barely make it out of his school without being accosted. He recalls hiding out in the room that held the janitors' supplies and the boiler room. All of these complex strategies for every day. Hiding—frightened and weak. He wouldn't have called himself completely unhappy, but he had trouble adjusting. He was the weird kid. Different. Chiro just never suspected that he derived this weirdness from some mandate that he needed to lead a group of cyborg moneys to protect his home planet.

"_Is this all the cosmos could find?" Sprx says, looking at Chiro with a wry lift of one corner of his lips._

_Antauri replies, "The Power Primate is strong in few. He _must_ be the one."_

"_I know he's probably better than Mandarin and all," Sprx says, "but can we take him back?"_


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

* * *

><p>"Chiro?"<p>

By noon, the boy hasn't eaten anything. He sits in the control room and hears the racket of Otto working on one of his inventions. No hunger pangs bother him; in fact, eating will probably make him feel worse. The smells will assure him that today's just another day. One week after another, fighting and protecting Shuggazoom. As altruistic as he should be, he's just an adolescent young man; as such, Chiro reflects on his future. What if he's never able to make Shuggazoom completely free?

"Chiro?"

It's all on him—he's the leader. One big mess-up, and he'll hurt his home. Every month, there'll be monsters and threats. He's been lucky, but one day he swears there'll come something so devastating. Too big for someone like him. Some dumb kid.

Chiro feels a tentative hand on his arm.

Startled, he turns his head. "Oh, hey Antauri!"

"Did you hear me?" the black simian asks.

"No—what?" Chiro blurts.

"I asked if you are feeling well," Antauri says evenly.

The boy smiles. "Yeah, Antauri. I'm feeling great. Why?"

"You seem to be less attentive than usual." Chiro blinks. He's in a daze—with one foot in the dream world, wanting to go back to bed rather than face a life of routine. Saving the world isn't like school. At school, there are breaks. Right now the hyperforce is given the closest thing to a break they've had in awhile; instead of relaxing though, they remain more guarded because of the quiet. The last attack was when they figured out that the Skeleton King created the monkey team. Nova spent several days evading even the most mundane conversations.

Chiro yawns, rubs the skin under his eyes with the back of his hands. "Didn't get enough sleep."

"Do you know why?" Even if Antauri is all calm and reasonable, it sets Chiro on edge. Seriously, why can't he just have days where he's a bit tired? Does it have to be some big deal?

"A dream," Chiro mumbles.

Honestly, he can't wait to go asleep again.

Antauri says, "Hopefully, you'll have a restful sleep cycle tonight."

"Yeah," Chiro says, stifling another yawn, "normal's nice."


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

* * *

><p>"Chiro," a voice calls, "get up before I have to get your father up to wake you. He'll bring in the blowhorn if he has to."<p>

Chiro grunts and rolls over. Nearby, he can hear birds chirping, their singing having a startling clarity beyond his window.

"Chiro."

The boy pulls the sheets over his head and mutters.

"Chiro, don't make me start tickling you."

The boy sits up and meets the gaze of his smiling mother.

She frowns. "Child, what have you done to your hair?" His mother starts patting at and rubbing his hair.

"Nngh!"

"I'm trying to make you presentable, dear. No use in letting the school think you're an orphan." They both laugh.

Chiro says, "It'll just get messed up anyway when I put my shirt on." No use in arguing, he thinks.

She gives one of his arms a light pat. "Come and eat breakfast. You have about fifteen minutes." His mother walks out, her stride even and her dark hair wild as if it's dodging flames.

When Chiro enters the kitchen, a large room with white tiles and the scent of flowers, he watches his bleary-eyed father faintly greet his mother and kiss her on the lips; the boy makes his obligatory gagging noises. His mother walks over to him, sweeps his bangs back, and plants a kiss on his forehead.

"Mo-_om_," Chiro groans.

* * *

><p>When Chiro wakes up, he swears that he's close to tears. The dreams—they're always so simple. Here he is—able to kick intergalactic butt and crying over the past. If only—if only . . .<p> 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

* * *

><p>In the command room, the team discusses strategies for possible, future attacks. Antauri, sitting closest to Chiro, notices that his leader's head is drooping. He says, "Are you still having these dreams?"<p>

Chiro looks sharply at his second-in-command. "Yeah . . ." His body tenses. The other team members quiet in their chatting and laughter. There are deep lines under the boy's eyes, and he's both grateful and discouraged that they haven't noticed until now.

"And they are recurring?"

"Y-Yeah." Antauri crosses his arms. This can't be good, Chiro thinks.

"I believe that dark forces may be at hand."

Sprx leans forward. "Dreams? Kid, what dreams?"

"But it's not like that, you guys!" Chiro says, attempting not to sound nervous.

"Chiro," Nova says, "we _did_ just have an episode where the Skeleton King messed with our dreams." She pauses for a moment, her eyes becoming unfocused. "If it's a coincidence, then it's a pretty weird one."

"Maybe they _are_ just good dreams," Otto suggests.

"Dreams that occur consecutively?" Gibson asks wearily.

"Well, it can happen," his green companion states. "Besides, Chiro's supposed to be different, right?"

Sprx directs a wry glimpse at his mechanic friend, but only says, "It's not normal, Otto."

"Well, it might be," Otto replies, "and helping him might end up taking something from him. How would you like it if we stole your Mobius Quint posters?"

"I'm pretty sure this isn't the same thing," Sprx says dryly, lifting a corner of his mouth into an unconvincing half-smirk. All of his comebacks lack mirth because he's recollecting on the past few days. Chiro's been more reclusive. Not that it's a bad trait, but it's certainly unbecoming when one is the leader of a city-saving hyperforce.

Shaking his head, Chiro says, "No, they're nothing like that." With his face growing heated from their stares, he hastily retreats from the room. Antauri tries to call after him.

"He's never had dreams like this before, night after night. We would've noticed," the black monkey says quietly.

"His studies are dwindling," Gibson says, "and he's lethargic."

"And real tired," Otto adds.

"The kid can't speak a straight sentence without tripping over his words or fading out," says Sprx.

"He isn't fighting well," Nova contributes.

Otto ponders for a moment, then says, "He won't play videogames with us anymore!"

"It isn't even on a nightly basis," the blue monkey says. "Chiro has been napping rather excessively."

"At least he doesn't snore like _some_ of us," Sprx says.

"Appropriate timing as always."

"Hey, can't a monkey lighten the mood once in awhile?"

"Perhaps your ribald jokes are well-timed elsewhere, but when our leader is—"

"Guys. This is serious," Nova admonishes. "He's faltering."

Gibson halts in his chastising and nods to himself. "I'll run tests to see if we can sort out this problem."

Antauri says, "For the time being, it may be the wisest course of action."

"Do we even know what these dreams are about?" Otto asks.

"No," the black monkey replies gravely.

The mechanic offers hopefully, "Maybe he'll tell us."

"There are recent medications designed for problems such as these," Gibson states in a calm tone. They've lowered their voices without realizing it. "I'm sure a local pharmacy provides some that are quite potent and safe in regulation."

Nova says, "But will that solve the problem?"

"Yeah. Was the quack who made those the same guy who wrote in the textbooks that monkeys have a predilection toward eating bananas?"

Gibson retorts, "Why Sprx, I didn't expect that you'd have a word larger than three syllables in your repertoire."

"Enough." Antauri stands, and the hyperforce gazes at him. "I trust Chiro." He looks at Gibson. "I'm sure he'll want answers, and perhaps searching for any malevolent ailments will assist us in helping him."


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

* * *

><p>"Are you lucid?" the blue simian says.<p>

Chiro blinks.

Gibson persists, "In these dreams. Can you move at your own will? Consciously dictate your own actions?" They are in the medical bay. It's brightly lit with tools and chambers that reflect light right toward Chiro, who's shifting as he sits on the examination table with both of his legs dangling off. Beeping assaults his ears, and all he wants to do is sleep. It's only the boy and the blue monkey occupying the small space, but Chiro feels cramped and imprisoned with so many bleeping computers trying to determine just what's wrong with him. So far, there are no physical signs that something's contaminating him.

"Uh, yeah." The boy adjusts himself, growing uncomfortable under Gibson's determined scrutiny.

"Hmm, intriguing."

To Chiro's relief, the blue simian turns away and types into a large keyboard, and several characters on the mainframe reflect in Gibson's black eyes.

"We can only do so much if you won't help yourself." The monkey jokes, "Sprx suggested that I tie you to the examination table and conduct some of my experiments on you."

Chiro doesn't respond, and the blue monkey turns to look at him thoughtfully.

"Great, he thinks I'm crazy."

"No, not crazy. Troubled would be an apt word."

"Do you think I'm 'troubled'?"

"As a young man with the plethora of responsibilities that you hold, I wouldn't be surprised if you feel emotionally stunted or increasingly stressed." Chiro deciphers that as Gibson-speak for _yes_.

After a few more minutes of well-meant interrogations and prodding, Antauri enters the medical bay. Chiro notices that a blue light casts itself harshly on them all, making everyone look like sickly shadows. Gibson pats the boy's shoulder and exits. The boy suddenly wishes that the monsters would come back; this lull is killing him.

The black monkey stands in front of the boy with his hands joined and behind his back. "Chiro," Antauri says calmly, "you have to trust me."

"I'm _fine_, Antauri. Gibson poked me with some metal sticks, told me to take some sleeping medication. It's all good." Of course, Chiro doesn't plan on actually taking the medicine. He just nodded and smiled and asserted that yes, yes, he'll do his best.

Antauri lets the silence sink in before inquiring, "Do you mind if I ask what these dreams are about?"

Chiro looks away for a moment. C'mon, this is Antauri. _Chiro, you have to trust me._

"My parents."

The boy meets the monkey's pensive eyes with his own. "I'm afraid that whatever may be causing these dreams is specifically targeting parts of your mind that are best unexplored by outside forces."

"What's that s'posed to mean?"

His mentor tilts his head forward, his eyes taking on a new intensity. "Forgive me. I know nothing of your past, Chiro, but I'm—"

"Annoyed?"

"—concerned," Antauri finishes.

* * *

><p>As the days go by, Chiro doesn't even know what they were worrying about. The dreams come and go, and soon the hyperforce resumes their patrols. Chiro and Sprx take the evening shift, and the leader takes the Brain Scrambler as opposed to the torso.<p>

_"You're gonna have to hit harder than that, Chiro!" Nova says during training._

On the intercom, he hears Sprx ask, "You alright, kid?" That question touches the boy's heart in an odd, unexpected way.

Chiro stifles back a yawn. He has to hide his sleepiness now. "Yeah, nothing yet, Sprx. It's been hours."

"Ready to head back?"

"Yeah." Chiro longs to go back and have his dreams again. It's night, and he's been good and postponed his sleep.

"_Honey, what's wrong?"_

"Chiro, come in? You're flying a bit low to the ground." The boy closes his eyes. His muscles go to jelly.

"_Dear?"_

"Kid—" Everything becomes light. Free. None of the worrying about evil or corruption.

_"Honey, you look pale," his mother says, her pretty face knotting itself in worry._

"Chiro—!"

He's falling, falling, and he doesn't care. What has he been worrying about all this time? Chiro doesn't actively want to die, but with all of his strength he cannot hold off the impending sleep, the paradoxical heaviness and liberation it brings.

"Team—come in, come in! Chiro's not responding and he's—" A chorus of voices call to the boy. He's in the bone citadel, in the air. Flying everywhere, disconnected from himself. Memories, visions that seem like memories—

"_Glad to have you back, son."_

The boy nods off, almost immediately blacking out as the Super Robot's head careens into the ground.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

* * *

><p>Chiro spends hours unconscious in the medical bay. The team huddles around him with their arguments and worries. Gibson checks to see if the boy sustained a concussion or any fatal injuries from the crash while Nova fools with his hair because she needs to see if she can detect any head wounds, raking her metallic digits through it as if she happened to be a primal simian searching for lice.<p>

"This is the last straw, Antauri," Gibson says, "The boy is going to get himself killed. Whatever you've been trying, whatever you've told him, he hasn't listened. You need to get him to wake up!"

As they all stand around their leader, Antauri steps closer to the boy and looks down at his peaceful visage. The black simian knows the concern edged into his companion's agitated voice. He says softly, "I know."

With his hands held up in frustration, the blue simian states, "Honestly, Antauri. Sometimes the child is more stubborn than you." The room smells of astringents for Chiro's wounds.

A few minutes later, the boy awakens. His shirt is off, and his chest is covered in deep scratches and bruises. Chiro sits up.

"Easy, kid." Sprx says, but the young man cannot see him with his blurred and stinging vision. It sounds as if he's far away.

Sounding closer, Antauri says, "How are you feeling, Chiro?" The boy's vision adjusts. He blinks the agitated wetness out of his crusty eyes.

Chiro grunts. "I'm fine. Got a headache, not much else. What happened, team?"

Nova releases a relieved sigh. "Thank the Power Primate." Her voice startles Chiro, and it's not just because she's positioned behind him. She sounds tired, tearful.

"Yeah, glad it's just a migraine," Sprx says, crossing his arms and moving off of the tube he was leaning on. "Now onto more important matters: kid, _ar__e you crazy?_"

The boy flushes as he recalls. Patrol. The shouting. "It's not like I _wanted_ to fall asleep, Sprx," Chiro retorts fiercely. "It just happened."

"You almost got yourself _killed!_"

"C'mon Sprx, I'm _fine_."

"You were _lucky_. How about the next time, huh kid? Ever think that you might hit a building, kill a few dozen people and yourself? Next time, a headache might be the least of your problems. Maybe it'll be a living impairment problem, as in 'Hey, I'm Chiro and I got myself killed!'"

"Sprx—" Gibson says.

Sprx begins furiously pacing. "You need help, kid. I'm not going to lose another leader, and I sure as the savage lands won't bury someone who hasn't even gotten beard hair yet. Geez, are you trying to kill yourself?" He shoots his leader a pointed look

"And what if I am?" Chiro retorts with a harsh edge to his voice. "What would it matter to you?" He instantly regrets saying that. Of course they'd care. The boy sees it in Sprx's stricken expression.

"Whoa, Chiro, don't talk like that. That's some serious stuff. You—you have no idea what that would do to everyone."

The boy's heart starts racing, regret icing his veins and his throat full of lead. "I know. I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>The next few hours, Chiro goes in and out of an uneasy sleep where he hears distorted voices. His team members come and go. Before she leaves, Nova whispers in his ear, "He just wants to help. <em>We<em> just want to help."

One moment when he's conscious, Otto speaks up, "We don't want you to die. Then who'll I get to talk to about new games or gizmos?"

"Otto," Chiro croaks, "you'll have Sprx—and Antauri, and everyone else."

The mechanic's face crumples. "But there'll be one missing."

Frustration making the muscles in his hand ache, Chiro clutches the fabric of the thin and stark bedsheet tightly, his head uneasy against the cold metal. He digs his nails into the skin of one of his hands. The skin of his palm burns, but nowhere near as badly as Chiro hurts on the inside.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

* * *

><p>With his body aching, Chiro dresses into his white uniform and walks outside. He winces as the cloth rubs lightly against the injuries on his chest. It's very early in the morning, while the team is still asleep, which means they've left him alone for hours. The young man sighs and closes his eyes. The cold air feels wonderful. He doesn't know where's he going. He just knows that he needs to go outside.<p>

He walks into a less inhabited place miles behind the robot and sinks down under a tree. The sun has still not peaked above the ground. Flitting needs and thoughts invade his conscience. Nova's voice. Chiro's seen her angry, beyond angry. Mostly directed at Sprx, often ending with Antauri having to intervene.

"What am I doing?" He rubs his eyes. "What's wrong with me?"

* * *

><p>Chiro finds himself sitting on the edge of a giant chasm with his mother, whose eerie humming ignites the haze around him. Discordant chirping and other animal noises reach his ears. His heart leaps at the sight of her smiling at him, her head turned up and her countenance containing nothing but love for him. The environment is a bleak gray, and Chiro can't tell what time of day it's supposed to be.<p>

The young man says to his mother, "I miss you."

She nods and states cheerfully, "Honey, it'll last shorter than you think. Like a shot. The wait to go into the doctor's office is often more painful than the hurt itself."

"What do you mean?" The wind howls, and Chiro suddenly wants to be back in the medical bay.

"Join me. Join us, please." The young man tilts his head downward, his heart now falling into his stomach. She wants him to—no, he can't!

"I'm sorry, Mom. I can't. They need me here." Chiro peers at the gray horizon with the city in the distance. "All of them."

Her voice, so much like Nova's—it'd only hurt for a—

Tears fill her shimmering eyes. "Don't you love me, Chiro? Do you want your father and me to be alone forever?"

"I'm _sorry_," he cries.

_"Chiro, you have to _trust _me."_

* * *

><p>Chiro's eyes snap open; he remains curled up under the same dreary tree, his back causing him excruciating pain. The sun has not only come up, but the light is diminishing behind the scant trees. Did the dream really expand past most of the day? It's killing him. He hasn't eaten—has hardly moved—Chiro stands, exerting much of his effort despite his long nap, not bothering to wipe the grass off of his clothes. He has to get back to the Super Robot. He has to go back home.<p>

As he almost limps back to the Super Robot, he first encounters a shape moving toward him. It's still cold, but nothing like the dream. The shape gets faster, calls out his name, and then grows definition.

If anger can make a monkey redder, then Sprx can surely chase away all rumors that red isn't his real color. Huffing and scowling, Sprx says, "Kid, do you know what you've put us through? Everyone's been goin' apes, outright bonkers, lookin' everywhere—"

"I'm sorry," Chiro rasps, and he leans forward and embraces his friend. Sprx stutters before returning it.

"Antauri said that he could feel that you were all right." After a moment, he states against Chiro's shoulder, "Seriously, kid. Don't do that to us again." They release each other.

"Chiro!" The rest of them rush in. Initially, Chiro only wanted peace. He's had it good. They've fought without losses. Maybe some scratches, bruises, dislocated gears, but no deaths. If any of them die—Nova, Otto, goodness, Antauri, how can he cope? It'd be like a distorted mirror. Surreal, another take at a reality he's sure he doesn't want to see again. Only worse. See, knowing someone after they die is different than believing that you could've known someone before they died. A reflection into what he doesn't want to know again: loneliness. And helplessness—the inability to stop others from hurting him.

_"Ch-Chiro."_

_"Chuh—Chuh—Ch—Ch," Glenny mocks. "Churro? What kinda name is Churro?"_

_"Some kinda dumb name," BT declares, puffing his chest out. "That's what it is!"_

Then they would chase him. The worst parts weren't physical. They reminded him that he had—_has_—no parents, insinuated that his parents didn't want him. It wasn't that they gave Chiro away, put him on the orphanage's doorstep, but that they abandoned him in death because they would rather not be alive anymore than to have some weak punk for a kid.

The young boy would open up a grate in the school and curl up there, small and thin, his muscles tensing as every second there were footsteps that clacked away toward him or the bell rang. There he was, in his dorky school costume. The only place he was ever happy was at the arcade because of the nice elderly couple, but Chiro couldn't run to adults whenever he was in trouble because they treated him like he was a hassle (which the boy didn't want to be), and even if he was safe for awhile, BT and Glenny were still around some corner. If anything, tattling gave them a larger incentive to torment him.

_"These were the toys we set out for you."_

He sniffs.

"You had us worried to the core of our power centers," Gibson says, inspecting Chiro's appearance critically.

Otto agrees solemnly, "Yeah, we were scared."

"Are you hurt?" Nova asks.

Antauri observes Chiro's lassitude as he returns to the robot with satisfaction. The boy needs to know that, even if they're in a serious arrangement and suffer from time constraints in terms of luxury moments and breaks, the team is more than a simple, convenient order.

The black simian calmly approaches the boy as the other monkeys back away. Nova comments that she hates this cold. He says, "Chiro, I hope you know that we cannot allow you to sleep as frequently as you have been."

Chiro opens his mouth and then closes it. He wants to tell them everything. To confide in them about the boiling shame. He'll have to.

Antauri's right. They all are. He's been burying himself in these dreams, losing sight of the world around him. Everything's become dark. He looks outside and sees futility. If Skeleton King tormented them over and over again, what's stopping him from doing this for eternity? Chiro thought to himself once, If I die, will it really make that big of a difference for the world?

Nova will cry. Maybe Otto too. The jokes, the games. But he's the Chosen One. It's not like they wanted him around, anyway. They're stuck with him, the scraggly kid who tried to steal parts from the Super Robot and ended up waking up a team of super-powered monkeys. They operated fine without him. He's just Chiro. As if he's the only person who will ever be able to possess the Power Primate. Maybe they'll find someone better, more able. Then the young man thinks about what Sprx said about never losing another leader. Surely they'll outlive him, anyway. He'll just speed up—no, stop thinking that. How can you ever hurt them like that, Chiro?

_"So," Sprx says, leaning against his transportation tube in the control center, "do you scrounge around for parts often?"_

_"Erm, I wasn't, uh, doing that." In truth, the boy is on his own. He ran away from the orphanage, started collecting spare parts from all sorts of places to get money. Shuggazoom isn't the worst place, and he'd been at it for about a week when he found—these things. Chiro waits to be mocked because of his stuttering, his nervousness._

_"Then why were you here?"_

_"Uh, I just saw the robot and was interested."_

_"Do you explore big, looming metal structures all the time, or is this a new hobby?"_

_Why should he stay? For one, they're letting him reside in their big robot. At age thirteen, Chiro finds that providing for himself—without anyone to help—is a struggle. And also—what? This red one is cocky and suspicious, the green one is nice, but dimwitted, the blue one is snobbish, the yellow one just confuses him, and the black one acts all aloof and mysterious._

_"Well, at least you're a worse liar than Mandarin," Sprx says dryly. "That's a start."_


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

* * *

><p>They look at him like he's crazy. Stupid even. Yeah, that's it. Like he doesn't know what he's doing. Can't a guy catch a break every once in awhile? There's still a lull in Skeleton King activity. Chiro was wrong about wanting to resume the battles. He's tired of fighting, and he's only fourteen. He shouldn't be at this stage of life where he's exhausted. The boy should be enjoying life with a normal family. With a normal future. Why is he whining about what should be?<p>

Chiro enters his mentor's room. He wasn't instructed to do so, but he knows that he has to if he wants to get any better. His second-in-command levitates above him, as at peace as ever. The boy wonders, with all of the struggles plaguing this cheerily pink planet, how his mentor keeps such composure in the face of tribulation and death.

Antauri comes down and greets the boy calmly. They sit cross-legged and face each other. Chiro tries to relax, but to him, not being tense only brings the onset of sleep.

"My dreams—" Chiro chokes on his own words. "—they're, they're about my family."

"What do you experience?"

"Just—happy moments. Things like picnics." The teenager blushes as his thoughts hit at the deepest parts of him.

"I see."

"Antauri, I don't want to—sound harsh, but do you even know what it's like to _get_ a family? I mean, I'm kinda new to it. Not even new, I guess. Still inexperienced, you know?" As he stumbles over his speech, Chiro feels as if he's chained to the bottom of an ocean as he fumbles hopefully for the keys to a lock.

Without hesitation, his mentor intertwines his fingers and replies, "Actually, I do know what it's like to have a family."

Chiro can hardly stomach any of it, the emotional regurgitation, but he doesn't want to be rude. With Antauri's statement, he's cast into the lonely unknown again. "Sorry to bother you."

"It's no trouble at all, Chiro."

"They're dead. Would I get to see them again? You know, if I died?" The boy's eyes take on a hopeful glimmer, a life foreign to the past few weeks, and this makes Antauri consider his words with utmost care.

"I don't know, Chiro. As wise as I seem, I don't pretend to know where the course of life leads us. I only instruct you on what I'm almost certain will come. We may feel nothing once we're no longer living, and then everything we are will flow back to help the growth of the earth around us. There may be a life after, and we just won't see it until after we are gone. If there is any light in this world, you won't know until many years after this period in time. With any luck, neither will I, and neither will any members of the hyperforce."

The boy says uncertainly, "What—what if I want a family?"

"I wish I could give you the answers you seek, but I don't know what your future will be. However, realize that it is _your_ future, and that does come with the responsibilities you've received. Even so, you can craft your life with what you're given; you can't change what has already been given to you. We all have duties we must fulfill." As Chiro ponders, Antauri continues, "May I suggest that a family has already been extended to you?"

Chiro turns away from the black simian's steady gaze. "Sorry, Antauri, I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

"That's quite all right. Just remember this, Chiro: no monkey team member is ever alone."

The boy nods, a strange sensation tickling at his throat.

"Do you mind if I ask what brought this into question—your wonderings on whether or not there is an afterlife?"


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

* * *

><p>Whoa, how can he start? <em>So, Ant<em>_auri, my fake dream mom told me to off myself and, yep, there were times when it seemed like a good idea because I had a standard tragic childhood and I thought listening to her would make me feel better. I have a daddy complex and a mommy complex and a school complex and a hero complex and an I wanna die complex. _

"She, my mom, told me that if—" He stops because he doesn't want to face the repercussions.

"Yes, Chiro?" the black monkey prompts.

Trust. Trust. "—if I d—if I wasn't alive anymore, I could have a family." There's an uneasy silence. Antauri peers at him without any explicit emotions written on his visage.

"That wasn't on purpose, Antauri. The crashing, I just fell asleep."

Antauri nods and clasps his hands into his lap. "I know that, despite how reckless some of your actions can be interpreted as, you would never seek to alleviate your sorrows at the expense of many other lives."

"But I almost did." The chain grows heavier. When was the last time he cried, anyway, besides briefly after that one dream? Not when Sprx was kidnapped because of Chiro's own stupidity. Not even when the team (except for Gibson) was captured.

Wait. When they were captured—

_Gibson says, "Somehow I don't think the Skeleton King will fit into that."_

"_It'__s not his. It's mine, all of this stuff, from a long time ago."_

_The room is littered with toys. In the center, Chiro's school costume from when he was younger rests on a mannequin._

"_Well, that's extremely disturbing."_

_He shivers. Why would Skeleton King need stuff like this—_Chiro's_ stuff?_

"_Tell me about it."_

"Chiro." The boys snaps away from her remembrance. "I need you to face what is plaguing you. You need to go into your dreams and defeat it."

"How, I—" He's scared.

Antauri smiles. "I'll be here with you."

Chiro thinks for a moment. He needs to trust Antauri. More than that, he needs both strength and fear. The strength to move forward and the fear of death. The boy stretches out his legs and leans back, staring at the white ceiling and his resolve dwindling as shadow hands force the boy down into himself.

He opens his eyes up to a gray plane of existence, his vision obscured in darkness and mist and white sky. The boy's mother rises from the shadows and strolls toward him. Her arms are folded to where the teenager cannot see her hands.

"Chiro." She smiles widely. Ooze seeps beneath her pink dress, pooling on an invisible earth.

The boy shakes as he says as vehemently as he can, "I won't come with you."

She giggles and tilts her head to the side. Her neck is obscenely thin and her face becomes gaunt. "Don't you want a family?"

"Yes, but not with you." Part of him wants to apologize, but he refrains. Then, her eyes grow dimmer and his energy drains. He lifts up his hands, and Chiro's eyes widen when he can see through them.

Everything beneath him seems to buckle. The ooze begins falling into nothing.

"I love you, Chi-Chi," his mother chirps, her voice a hideous growl and her appearance an unnerving resemblance to a corpse. Chiro stares below. The cloud-like surroundings grow into a harsh shade of red. The whiteness vanishes completely. Below there's a living darkness, the chasm like a maw, the abyss blacker and sinister with dark tendrils snapping like gnashing teeth.

"Fine," it seethes, clutching onto the front of Chiro's shirt, clawed and smelling of sulfur, "then burn!"

And now the leader of the hyperforce is whistling as he falls to his doom, that noise almost sounding like a mournful howl, or one long wail. The boy swears that he hears hollow chuckling miles above his descending body.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

* * *

><p>A force smacks into the boy, knocking the breath from him with as much haste as the ground was stolen from beneath his feet. Stolen—the theme word of these past few harrowing weeks. Chiro rolls over and pushes himself up, and suddenly he's back in Antauri's room, breathing heavily and desperately, as if that privilege will dissipate at any moment. Fatigue sets in everywhere, increasingly heavy behind his eyes. Strangely enough, no impulses tell him to sleep.<p>

"You did it, Chiro." The black monkey offers his leader a hand, and Chiro accepts and gets up as unsteadily as his gait has been for the past few days. The boy cannot determine the source of Antauri's jubilation.

"But—how? I fell. She—it threw me over. I felt . . ."

"You didn't go by your own accord. You didn't submit." With a large smile, the second-in-command places a hand on Chiro's shoulder. "All of this time, the dark forces have been trying to make you succumb, to give up fighting. You refused them, and therefore they couldn't take you. If it was as simple as killing you themselves, then they would've already done that. They wanted to _break_ you, Chiro, and you've proven that you can't be broken."

The boy coughs. "Well, they certainly did their best."

* * *

><p>Chiro feels paper-thin, ready to be crumpled up. Sure, it's an improvement from his self-destructive phase. The boy knows the truth, even if it hurts. He's never known his real parents, ever. The routines—his lack of complaints through the training and the discussions. Nothing has changed. Antauri said that he'd grown stronger—when, truly, he'd experienced a stint of weakness.<p>

It's like they've died right in front of him, like he's an orphan all over again. Everyone else acts distant, even if they watch him constantly and ask their leader questions, afraid that if they touch something brittle—it'll snap.

Grief melts away into anger, or maybe anger is just a stage of his grief. He trains harder, longer, grows satisfied in his strained muscles and stretched-out days. Chiro almost can't look at Antauri without feeling something hot boiling under his ribcage. The darkness, how desperately Chiro yearned for the lies to be true—how weak he is, Mr. Savior of Shuggazoom, the grand ol' bonafide Chosen One.

His parents. They died before he could remember what they were like. Then he spent the rest of his life either scared or complacent—before he met the team; that's an extra weight on his shoulders: what could've been, a weight that only gets heavier.

He has "talking sessions" with Antauri where he attempts to sort through his frustration. That's the best and worst thing about his mentor: he knows how to get under your skin and properly lay on his aphorisms. They sit in Antauri's room with its mosaics and small water display almost every day.

"You can't change what's been given, Chiro. Take the resources you have and enjoy the life you find." The boy doesn't reply. They've been over this before, and Antauri is waiting for the boy to listen. Right now, the recovery is sluggish, but that's to be expected. And Antauri can wait as long as it takes.

"Should I tell them—the others?"

"About?" Of course Antauri knows. He knows everything, yet he still acts reserved. Not judgmental. Chiro admits that he's starting to appreciate the calmness. He needs it.

"About how I went crazy." Maybe if he's self-effacing, everyone will judge him less because they know he's sure of how big his mistakes have been.

The black monkey meets Chiro's eyes. "You haven't acted in any manner that could be deemed crazy." Antauri sees pain and regret, and he laments that a boy so young has been burdened by so much; however, the simian finds consolation in the revelation that no matter how many times the young man's been weary, distressed or saddened, Chiro has never once been broken or defeated. There is no hopelessness in his leader's gaze, not anymore.

"Well, maybe not Krinkle-crazy," Chiro replies, "but, you, know, stupid."

"Nor stupid."

"Misguided," Chiro suggests.

"Not at all. If anything, these are issues that have plagued you all of your life, and these trials, no matter when anyone stumbles, teach you how to overcome and persevere."

The boy rubs the back of his neck. "I almost flung myself off of a cliff. That's not really a good situation any way you go."

"I'm quite proud of the progress you've made. You rectified the situation."

* * *

><p>When Chiro rests in his bed, he thinks about the lovely figure who pretended to be his mother—her urging him to lose himself in the darkness. That isn't even the worst part—the worst part is that he almost <em>fell<em> for it until it was too late. How would the team even be able to look at him straight, their big, heroic leader, so easily fooled by a bunch of fluffy dreams?

He directs all of the hatred previously saved for his tormentors toward himself because, in reality, he's made himself the biggest enemy, his needs the exposed weaknesses. Chiro lays in his bed and releases all of the pent-up, pitiful tears. For minutes, he just lays on his back and cries like he's three again. A child. Not a savior. Not Mandarin's good-hearted replacement. All of those tears with no single, solid emotion behind them: grief (for what?); anger (at who?); shame (at himself). All of it pours out, cleanses him.

Later, Antauri walks into the boy's room, sensing the spike of distress and immediately hearing the pained noises as he enters the bedroom. He calmly reaches to wipe away Chiro's tears. He doesn't know if the boy will allow him, but Chiro offers no protests as he weeps himself into an uneasy, dreamless sleep with Antauri murmuring insistent consolations above him.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

* * *

><p>The hyperforce still doesn't know the full content of Chiro's dreams. They didn't see how he wept like a newborn over something he should've been over years ago. Only Antauri saw, reacted as calmly as possible, and the boy can't stand it, knowing that behind the black simian's cool demeanor is the knowledge of what transpired in his mind.<p>

In the training room, Sprx slams his fist into a punching bag. "He tells Antauri _everything._"

Examining one of his hand-drills, Gibson replies, "And your point, Sprx?"

The red simian scoffs. "Of course nobody doubts Antauri since he's so monkeydoodlin' _perfect_."

Rolling her eyes, Nova says, "Like you could do better."

"All the kid does now is mope," Sprx says, punching the bag twice.

After testing the drills to check if they're in running order, the blue monkey meanders over to Sprx with his hands clasped behind his back. "At least he's sleeping properly—or at least not at odd intervals." Gibson recoils at the loud thuds.

As she trains, Nova says between grunts, "Yeah, but—he looks—really out of it. Like he's—somewhere else."

"I hope he's okay," Otto murmurs, then ambles away to retrieve a gadget from his room.

* * *

><p>In the evening, with the sounds of the water easing his mind, the boy says, "Antauri, can I go see my parents' graves—if it'll provide me closure?" When he was younger, he had dreams that he stood by his parents' tombstones and waited. Their names ghost through Chiro's mind, hitting him with a painful reminder that they aren't just figments of his imagination. They had thoughts and dreams and fears.<p>

"Chiro, of course you can. You can visit anytime you wish."

It was obviously a trick. Why didn't he see? Why did he go along with it?

Saliva thick in his mouth, the boy says, "So, anyway,_ should _I tell them?"

"It is up to you to decide if that's prudent."

"They won't get too mad, will they?"

Shadows flicker over Antauri's visage as he stands. "Any semblance of frustration . . . they are merely concerned for you. Some can be louder or less understanding, but in the end we all care about your wellbeing. Remember this, Chiro, and I've said this before: No monkey team member is ever alone. You can consult us whenever you wish. None of us will turn you away." Chiro hasn't been as altruistic, as trustworthy, and he's supposed to be something special. He's shrugged them off for TV shows, videogames—huh, some leader.

He needs them. If he ever sees any of them die—then these weeks'll be nothing compared to that despair.

Antauri notices his leader's glowering, senses his dark thoughts, and says, "You mustn't cloud yourself with regrets." They stand next to each other.

The young man just wants to draw out the memories of the past few weeks, but he can't, and that's another blow, another thing to kill him.

Chiro whispers to himself, "Here we go."

The door slides open, and they both silently make their way to the main control room.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

* * *

><p>The blue monkey grimaces at the sound of crunching. "Otto," Gibson says, sitting in one of the chair pods, "I really wish you would eat healthier foods."<p>

"Nothing wrong with a bit of variety, Brain Strain."

"Mmfghmmfh!"

"Don't encourage him, S.P.R.X.-77."

Sprx smirks. "Whatever you say, Hal."

"C'mon guys," Nova says, "the world has bigger problems than nutrition labels."

Otto offers the greasy-snack bag to the blue simian. "Want some?"

"Goodness, no. Honestly Otto, your dietary habits are simply undesirable. You'll blow up like a—"

Chiro allows himself a ghost of a smile at the bickering. He and Antauri sit down with the rest of the team. The chatter dies down, and Otto ceases his chewing and chokes as he attempts to swallow the large amount of food in his mouth.

"Kid, what's up?"

"Well, team, um," the boy starts, not daring to meet any of their eyes, especilly Antauri's. "I've been having these dreams, a-as you all know."

Everyone waits for him to keep speaking. Against Chiro's will, his voice cracks as he continues, "I saw my parents. And she—they, the dreams—they told me to kill myself."

Otto gulps.

Faintly, Gibson says, "Oh my."

"Oh Chiro," Nova murmurs, peering at her leader with sad pink eyes.

"Monkey doodle," Sprx curses, clasping both of the nearest edges of the spherical chair. "Kid, why didn't you tell us?"

"The weird behavior wasn't a clue?"

"Well, we _knew_ something was wrong, that's one thing. I dunno, could've been teenage blues or some weird Power Primate gig. Getting a case of our archenemy making dreams with your parents telling you to off yourself is an entirely _different_ situation." Even with the humorous edge possible in his words, Sprx's countenance displays no flippant mirth.

"To put it lightly," Gibson says before directing his attention back to Chiro. "You didn't hope to follow through with this—suggestion, did you?"

The boy bites his lip; he's known that this would be a discussion point, but no matter how many times he's rehearsed this topic in his head, ruminated on several decent explanations for his actions, he just mumbles, "Okay, here's the thing."

Sprx's visage falls. "You did."

"N-Not for long!" Chiro says, frantically looking back at them all, telling himself not to read their faces. "I'm past that, guys."

"Chiro, _why_?" the pilot says.

Speaking becomes painful without the courage to see any of their expressions, all focused on him. Despite this, Chiro raises his head. "It was a mistake. I—I missed what life could've been like, but—I won't leave you guys. I'm over wanting what I can't have, and—"

The red simian's voice raises as he says, "So let me get this straight, kid—"

Nova says, "Sprx, let him finish."

"I told you we should've strapped him to the table."

"Sprx!" Nova barks, almost daring to flash her canines at her tactless team member.

"Oh yes, Sprx," Gibson drawls, resting his cheek on a hand with his arm propped on the side of the chair, "that would have _never_ upset his mental state any further."

"And bickering works wonders," the yellow monkey retorts. There really needed to be some criminal activity somewhere. She swears that if she has to listen to all these cooped-up guys argue one more time—

"But Chiro, you're the best leader we've had!" Even Antauri spares a glimpse at Otto. "Hey, it's _true_."

"Thanks," the boy croaks. "I think. I didn't mean for you guys to worry."

"Chiro, you big dolt!" Nova exclaims, punching his arm as light as she can. "What can we do to get it into your thick noggin that you mean so much to us?"

Otto runs up and hugs Chiro. "We love ya, man. Er, boy, uh, you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Chiro," Gibson says with a genuine smile.

"Same here, kid. Thought we'd have to go in and retrieve you from pity valley after awhile."

Chiro laughs and spares a glance at Antauri. "Well, you kinda did."


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

><p>Chiro slumps his hands into his jacket pockets and says, "Days like this shouldn't be sunny."<p>

"On the contrary," Antauri replies as the wind picks up, "I think this day marks the beginning of a greater future. You've grown resistant to the Skeleton King's hold."

"I resisted an obvious attempt to trick me after falling for it—and that's good? That's like congratulating me for not wetting the bed. Not that I do that, I mean. Not for years, anyway, when I was a kid."

The cemetery is extraordinarily old, and Antauri places two flowers on a set of graves. "You wouldn't consider it prudent to be proud of a child for strengthening his bladder? That is still quite the accomplishment, no matter how late it transpires."

Chiro bends down next to his mentor and tries to smile. "Better late than never."

Antauri nods sagely and closes his eyes. "Well said."

"Thanks," Chiro says quietly, accepting that he is wanted and loved. He was on the edge, and his teammates held on, despite his faults. If only, in the close future, this same bond will happen to save them all in the end.

* * *

><p>When Chiro watches his mentor fall into the pit through his own accord, he cannot make his thoughts coherent.<p>

No. No. No!

How could he? They needed him here! How could he die so easily after he struggled so fervently to spare Chiro from the life of a martyr? And there he is—somewhere down inside the Dark One's egg sac.

Chiro swears, with tears swelling under his eyes as he refuses to be pulled away from the sight, that he hears Antauri scream.


End file.
